Battery box or container



Aug. 29, 1944. R. E. TRESISE ET AL 2,3 7,

\ BATTERY BOXOR CONTAINER Filed ug. 16 1941 5 R m E E mum 1A5 1 DE NR E KE D H G l PR m .N a

Patented Aug. 29, I v

- UNIT-ED .STATE 5 PATENT mm;

BATTERY BOX OR CONTAINER Raleigh D. Kendall, Paraphone' Hearing Application August 16, 1941.

Claims.

This invention relates to containers for batteries and more particularly to containers for batteries generating current for use with the amplifiers for small vacuum tubes,-such as are used in hearing aids-and in'small radio sets.

One of the general purposes and objects of the invention is the production of a container for this purpose which, when used in connection with hearing aids of the. vacuum tube type, will be compact and light in weight, thereby enabling the same to be worn with comfort by the users of E. Tresise, Cleveland Heights, and Paul Maple Heights, Ohio, assignors to Aid, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Serial No. 407,182

We accomplish the foregoing objects in and a through the construction and arrangement of parts shown in the drawing hereof, wherein Fig. 1 represents a side elevation of a battery box or container constructed in accordance with our invention, parts therein being shown in dotted lines; Fig. 2 a sectional view corresponding to the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 a sectional view corresponding substantially to the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, the A battery being shown in elevation after "2"; Fig. 4 a bottom plan view, and Fig. 5 a top plan view of the container shown in the precedin views; Fig. 6. a detail in section corresponding to the line 6-6 of Fig. 2; and Fig. '7 a detail in section corresponding to the line 'I--'| of Fig. 2 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Describing by reference characters the various a hollow stem or sleeve i3 parts shown in the drawing, Ill denotes the front or cover section and II the rear or back section of our battery box or container. These sections are identical in shape and dimensions and each of the same'is provided with side walls and top and bottom walls, the top and bottom walls of the front or cover section being indicated at it! and [0 respectively and the side walls of the same being indicated-at lo while the top and bottom walls of the rear section Ii are indicated respectively at I l and l l and the side flanges at ll. The sections of the box or container are made of light sheet metal, pressed to shape and.

are provided each with vertically spaced ribs extending transversely therearound from one side edge to the opposite side edge, the ribs of section [0 being indicated at It! and those on section rent is conducted to a vacuum shown). The batteries referred to are desigil being indicated at i I. The meeting edges Ill and II of the sections areprovidedeach'with a short outwardly projecting flange, said flanges constituting Jointly an outwardly directed rib, from which rib the ribs i0 and II extend in opposite directions. In practice, the front and rear sections of the containers are enameled, and these transversely extending ribs not only strengthen the light metal of which the container is formed, but also serve to support the containers upon any surfaces upon which they may be placed without injury to the enameled coating of the bodies thereof.

As shown herein, the rear section of our bat tery box container is provided with means for mounting therein an A-battery and a B-battery. with suitable electrical connections between the said'batteries, the container, and the socket contacts for the prongs of the plug by which the curtube amplifier (not nated respectively A and B and are mounted in the rear section in the following manner: l2 denotes a block of insulating material constituting the base of a socket and having a contact [3 at its lower end for engagement with the positive pole l3 of the A battery, the said contact having extending upwardly It for the reception of one of the current is supplied into the block prongs of the plug whereby from the A battery to one end of the filament circuit of the vacuum tube amplifier. The battery is supported between the contact I3 and the bottom wall ii by means of a contact arm i4 having an upper rounded end HI adapted to engage the bottom of the battery and having its lower end I 15 which is supported between the lugs formed by the upturned flanges iii of an inverted U- shaped base electrically connected to the flange A torsion spring I! is wound and has one end connected I l as by rivets l6". around the shaft ii to the arm l4, its other end being provided with a projection i1 extending through an opening in the adjacent flange l6.

The upper end or positive pole of the B-battery engages a contact is carried by an insulatingblock i9, secured to the upper wall ll of the rear container section by rivets IS! while the lower end is engaged by a contact arm 20, similar to the arm in and mounted in a similar manner upon a shaft 2| mounted in the lugs formed by the upturned flanges 22 of an inverted 'U-shaped base 22, which is electrically connected with the casing section, as by means of rivets 23. A spring 4 mounted for rotation upon a shaft 24, similar to spring I1, is mounted on the shaft 2| and has one end secured to the arm and its opposite end provided with a projection 24'- extending through an opening in the adjacent flange 22-. The block l2 of insulating material not only serves to space the contact l3 at the proper distance from the contact arm l4, but also serves to prevent a short circuiting between the terminals of the A and B batteries, as by the insertion of a knife for the removal of the plug, which would result in tube failure.

As the bottoms, or exposed portions of the bottoms, 01' dry cells usually constitute the negative poles of the same, the contact arms [4 and 20 and the mode of operating the same are particularly efiicient in obtaining and maintaining clean contact between the upper ends of these arms and the exposed bottom portions of the battery casings, since the action of the springs l1 and 24 produces a wiping of the upper ends of the arms against the portions of the bottoms of their respective casings engaged by said ends as the batteries are assuming their final positions within the container. The fact that the contacts are located in the rear section enables the A and B batteries to be very conveniently introduced into said section by first engaging the bottom negative poles of the same with the upper ends of their respective contact arms l4 and 20. Then, by pressing the batteries downwardly upon these contact arms, the positive poles of the batteries may be brought below their respective contacts, after which the tops of the batteries may be swung inwardly and the lower contact arms will hold them firmly in the positions in which they have been thus placed, with the positive poles in engagement with the upper contacts. During this operation, the upper ends of the arms l4 and- 20 exercise their wiping action against the bottom portions or negative poles of their respective batteries.

A conductor 25 extends from the contact It to and is connected with the lower end of a hollow stem or sleeve I3 adapted to receive another on of the prongs of the plug by which current is supplied to one side of the plate circuit of the vacuum tube amplifier. 26 and 26 denote posts carried by the wall II, on opposite sides of the semi-circular opening 21 therein, which posts support one or more fiber disks 28, constituting the socket from which the insulating block I 2 is in turn supported by the screw 29. This socket has openings for the reception of the prongs of the plug, which openings register with the sleeves [3 and N and with a third sleeve l3. The socket is spaced from the wall i I by means to be described. The container with which the lower ends of the batteries A and B are electrically connected is in turn electrically connected by a conductor 30 with the sleeve l3 which registers with a third opening in the socket, provided for the reception of the third prong of the plug, whereby the return circuit for the A and B batteries from the filament and plate of the vacuum tube is completed through said sleeve, prong, and. container.

3| denotes a thin forwardly curved strap-like guard which is sleeved at one end around the post 26 and at its opposite end around the post 26 located beneath a narrow plate 32 extending beneath the top flange II and having a downturned end 32 secured, as by riveting, to the interior of the rear wall II. The sleeves by which the guard is secured to the posts 26 and 26 constitute means for spacing the socket 28 from the walls I0 and I l of the container. This guard prevents the accidental engagement of the top wall of the front or cover section with the prongs inserted into the sleeves l3 and N while securing the said sections together, or while disconnecting the said sections, which accidental engagement would cause the momentary transmission of the high voltage B current into the filament circuit thereby burning out the filament.

The plate 32 is provided with a pin 33 pro- .iecting upwardly therefrom, said pin being adapted toproject through an opening 34 in the top wall ill of the front or cover section of the receptacle. A'similar pin 36 projects downwardly from the outer end of a spring plate 35 which has an upturned end 35 which is secured against the wall II, as by means of rivets 35 of the rear or bottom section of the container. This pin is adapted to enter an opening 31 provided for its reception in the bottom wall ID of the cover section. For thepurpose of removing the pin from the opening 31, the spring plate has attached thereto a stud 38 having a push button 38 at the lower end thereof, said stud, extending through an opening provided in the bottom wall li of the rear or bottom section of the box. The construction by which the front and rear sections of the container are connected enables us to obtain a stronger box, with the use of the same weight of metal, than can be obtained where one or more hinges are employed as a means for connecting the sections, since we eliminate the extra metal in these sections that is requisite to enable them to embody this hinged construction.

For convenience of description, the battery box I sitions in which the container and its contents may be placed.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is:

1. A metallic battery box container comprising a rear section and a front or cover section, the rear section having a back wall and top and bottom walls, a contact insulated from and supported adjacent to the top wall, a socket spaced laterally from said contact and comprising a block of insulating material extending downwardly from below the top wall and provided with a contact at its lower end having a hollow stem extending upwardly into said block for the reception of a prong of a plug, a pair of laterally spaced contacts vertically opposed -to the former contacts and grounded to the rear section, each vertically opposed pair of contacts adapted to receive a dry battery therebetween with the opposite podes of the battery in engagement with the vertically opposed contacts of such pair, the said socket also having an additional hollow contact stem for the reception of an additional prong of said plug, and means for electrically connecting the first mentioned contact with the second mentioned hollow stem;

2. In the battery box set forth in claim 1, each of the second pair of contacts comprising an upwardly extending arm pivotally supported by the rearv section and spring means for urging the upper portion of the same into engagement with the pole of the battery thereabove.

3. A metallic battery box or container comprising a rear section and a front or cover section, each section having top, bottom and side walls, the said sectionsbeing adapted to be secured together to form a closed compartment, the top wall of one of the said sections being provided with an opening for the reception of a plug and with a socket below said opening and itself having openings for the reception of the prongs of said plug, there being contacts located below the socket openings, batteries in said container having their poles electrically connected with the said contacts respectively, a strap-like curved guard, and means for supporting the opposite ends of said guard, said means being located on the wall having the opening for the socket and on opposite sides of the opening and supporting said ends below the said wall, the said guard projecting outwardly beyond the openings in said socket and beyond the top wall of the section having the socket and adapted to be received beneath the top wall of the other section when the said sections are united. Y

4. A metallic battery box or container comprising a rear section and a front section, each section having top, bottom and side walls, the said sections being adapted to be secured together to form a closed compartment, the top walls of the said sections being provided each with a sectional opening adapted, when the sections are united, to provide jointly a complete opening for the reception of a plug having a plurality of prongs, a socket located below and spaced from the opening in the top wall of one of said sections and itself having openings for the reception of said prongs, the said socket ex- .tending beyond the opening in the top wall of the last mentioned section and adapted to extend at least partially across the opening in the top wall of the other of said sections when the said sections are connected, there being contacts'located below the openings in said socket and there being batteries insaid container having their poles electrically connected with the said contacts respectively, a strap-like curved guard, and meansfor supporting the opposite ends of said guard, said means being located on opposite sides of the opening in the wall having the socket and supporting said ends below the said wall, the said guard projecting outwardly beyond the openings in said socket and beyond the top wall of the section having the socket and adapted to be received beneath the top wall of the other section when the said sections are united.

5. A metallic battery box or container comprising a rear section and a front or cover section, each section having top, bottom and side walls, the said sections being adapted to be secured together to form a closed compartment, the top walls of the said'sections being provided each with a semi-circular opening adapted, when the sections are assembled, to form a circular opening for the reception of a plug, means for supporting A and B batteries within the said rear section and between the top and bottom walls thereof, with the negative poles of the said batteries electrically connected with the metal of said section and with the positive poles in engagement with contacts adjacent to and insulated from the upper 'wall of said section, a socket of insulating material located below the circular opening provided beneath the top walls of the container sections and supported by the top wall of the rear sections, the said socket having a plurality of openings therethrough, contacts located below the said openings and adapted to be engaged by the prongs of a plug inserted thereinto, means electrically connecting the last mentioned contacts with the insulated contacts and with the metal of the rear section respectively, a forwardly strap-like curved guard supported beneath the top wall of the rear section and adapted to project below the top wall of the front section when the said sections are assembled, the openings in said socket being located below the semicircular opening of the rear section and the said guard being supported between the top wall of the rear section and the said socket.

RALEIGH E. 'I'RESISE. PAUL D. KENDALL. 

